Fire Dragon Reviewed at Shelly's LGBT Book Review

"M. Kei may be the best fantasy/adventure novelist you’ve never heard of… unless, of course, you read gay themed pirate fiction a la his Pirates of the Narrow Seas series. Or, maybe you’re a poetry fan and you are familiar with Kei’s award winning work. I, in all honesty, had never heard of him prior to reading his latest novel (not in the pirate series), the May, 2012 release, Fire Dragon. [...]

"I occasionally decide to step out of my comfort zone and read something that I wouldn’t normally choose. From the first page of this book, I got sucked into the story. It was really hard to put it down."--Shelly's LGBT Book Review Blog

Read the complete review at: http://shellysbookstore.com/2012/10/04/new-fiction-fire-dragon-by-m-kei/

M. Kei Interviewed by Our Story GLBTQ Historical Fiction

M. Kei, author of Pirates of the Narrow Seas, interviewed by Yancy Carpentier for Our Story GLBTQ Historical Fiction. He talks about his latest novel, a gay Asian sf/f tale called 'Fire Dragon,' as well as historical fiction, poetry, and what fiction can offer LGBT readers.

An excerpt from the interview:

The novel takes its name from the ‘Fire Dragon,’ who may or may not be real. It might be a new rogue Spirit, or it might simply be a superstition, or it might be the delusion of a deranged firefighter, or it might be an outright fraud to disguise acts of arson. Shuibai discovers a lot of arson fires set to cover up murder, terrorize the populace, and to destroy munitions belonging to rival forces, etc. No spoilers, so I will simply say, it’s near the end of the novel before we really find out what’s going on and the question of the Fire Dragon is resolved.

Read the complete interview at: http://bookworld.editme.com/M-Kei-Interviewv

Fire Dragon reviewed by Jade at GLBT Bookshelf

"Just when you thought there was no such thing as entirely original fantasy novel, here comes M. Kei -- better known for "iron men in wooden ships" tales of gay heroes under sail -- with a most enjoyable work, FIRE DRAGON.

"The great strengths of FIRE DRAGON are in the sheer originality of the idea -- the formation and development of a fire service in a frighteningly vulnerable city -- and the author’s creative decision to stage the project in a fantasy Asian setting. Picture a lavish cross between China and Japan, anything between the twelfth and eighteenth centuries, in which the height of technology is gunpowder for fireworks. Over the border are enemy hordes … showing up in the city are quite advanced and totally illegal firearms -- not pistols, but revolvers (telling us clearly that this land of swords, clan politicking and bushido has been left behind, in an industrial sense, by the world outside). The Emperor himself is concealing an enormous secret, while the feudal nature of this society is built, pagoda-fashion, from the untouchables on up to the Celestials -- with one more twist."

Read the complete review at: http://bookworld.editme.com/Review-Fire-Dragon-by-M-Kei

Fire Dragon goes on sale June 1, 2012

But readers of this site can get it early by following the links below:

Fire Dragon (Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/Fire-Dragon-ebook/dp/B008555OMG/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338294833&sr=1-6

Fire Dragon (Paperback): https://www.createspace.com/3784966

Subscribe to Our Story GLBTQ Historic Fiction to catch an interview with author M. Kei, talking about his new novel, Fire Dragon. Our Story is not only inclusive of GLBTQ fiction, they have a broad definition of 'historcal' that includes fantasy and other alternative treatments with a strong sense of history. Visit Our Story at: http://bookworld.editme.com/Our-Story-GLBTQ-Historical-Fiction-Edited-by-Nan-Hawthorne-0

The blurb:

In an exotic and magical land, Shuibai, a lowly bucket-maker, is appointed Fire Warden. He surprise--and annoys--everyone by taking his job seriously. Yet as he attempts to keep his city safe from fire, he finds his own life in peril as he stumbles across dangerous secrets.

Mysterious foes are smuggling illegal guns into his city, and they will stop at nothing, not even arson, kidnapping, and murder, as they wage their secret war. He is helped by the man he loves, the handsome but crippled ex-firefighter, Zashi, a man tormented by demons of his own.

Is the Fire Dragon real, or is the truth far more sinister?